Van Helsing Blu-ray delivers stunning video and great audio, but overall it's a mediocre Blu-ray release
Gabriel Van Helsing is a man cursed with a past he cannot recall and driven by a mission he
cannot deny. Charged by a secret organization to seek out and defeat evil the world over,
his efforts to rid the world of its nightmareish creatures have been rewarded with the title
that now follows him: murderer. Van Helsing roams the globe an outcast, a fugitive, a
loner, himself hunted by those who don't understand the true nature of his calling. When
dispatched to the shadowy world of Transylvania, Van Helsing finds a land stll mired inpast--
where legendary creatures of darkness come to life--a place ruled over by the evil,
seductive and unfeatable vampire, Count Dracula. And it is Dracula that Van Helsing has
been sent to terminate. Anna Valerious is one of the last of a powerful royal family, now
nearly annihilated by Dracula. A fearless hunter in her own right, Anna is bent on avenging
her ancestors and ending an ancient curse by killing the vampire. Joined by a common foe,
Van Helsing and Anna set out to destroy Dracula along with his empire of fear. But in
challenging an enemy who never dies, Van Helsing uncovers a secret he never imagined and
comes face-to-face with the unresolved mysteries of his own enshrouded past.
Some say you're a hack, Stephen Sommers. Others say you direct thrilling popcorn adventure
movies. Which is it? The answer, dear readers, is to be found in the bloated, beached whale of a film
that is Van Helsing. To start, I think it's important to remember that, as audiences, we
shouldn't always get what we want. Horrors fans clamored for years to see a no-holds-barred
match-up between razor-gloved Freddy Kruger and Jason, the machete-wielding camp counselor-
killer. And when the inevitable Freddy vs. Jason film came out, we all heaved our shoulders
with an audible and disinterested sigh. Sometimes, the longing is so much more satisfying than the
having. I imagine, then, that Stephen Sommer's well-intentioned brain initially buzzed with the
possibilities. A grand, gothic adventure on a heretofore unseen scale, featuring three of Universal
Classic's most iconic monsters, all fought by Bram Stoker's Van Helsing character? Like Freddy
vs. Jason, it sounds good on paper. But then the tinkering started. What if we make Van
Helsing young and sexy, and give him a Clint Eastwood-style duster, a black-brimmed hat, and a
flowing lion's mane of hair? What if we CGI all the creatures so they can climb up the walls and defy
gravity? What if we introduce ridiculously over-the-top weaponry? What if we lose sight of what
made monster movies fun in the first place?
Van Helsing and Carl meet the Transylvanian welcoming committee.
Character hopping is nothing new in the monster movie genre, where icons of the grotesque
have been facing off or teaming up ever since the first generation of horror films spawned sequels
and spin-offs. Van Helsing tries to up the ante by creating a unified monster universe
(monsterverse?) where the stories of Dracula, the Wolf Man, and the Frankenstein Monster are
actively intertwined. The film opens with Doctor Victor Frankenstein (Samuel West) bringing his
cut 'n stitch, collage-like cadaver to life through the mysterious power of electricity. As soon as
the monster is resurrected, Count Dracula (Richard Roxburgh) shows up to kill the good doctor
and reveal his nefarious plan to use the monster—can I just call him Frankenstein?—to use
Frankenstein (Shuler Hensley), ahem, to bring his undead, slimy-sac-encased children to
life.
Fast forward one year and we meet tireless monster hunter Van Helsing (Hugh Jackman) putting
up his dukes against Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde atop the cathedral of Notre Dame. After dispatching the
Victorian version of The Hulk, Van Helsing is summoned to the super-duper, ultra-secret
underground wing of the Vatican, where he's given his new marching orders: to travel to
Transylvania and prevent the remaining members of the Valerious family from going to purgatory
because of an ancient curse made nine generations ago by an ancestor who vowed to kill Dracula
but was unsuccessful and…mmm, hmmphhh, zzzzz. Sorry, I put myself out just thinking about
it. The particulars of the plot leave little impression, and the short version of the long story is—no
surprise here—Van Helsing needs to kill Dracula. Of course, he's got some help from Friar Carl
(David Wenham), a papal incarnation of 007's gadget guru Q, and the sultry Anna Valerious (Kate
Beckinsale), a local aristocrat whose brother Velkan (Will Kemp) has just become a werewolf
under Dracula's command.
And under Stephen Sommer's command, the film swells and festers like a boil about to burst.
Normal storytelling devices like, I dunno, character development and plot advancement are
shoved into brief pockets of expository dialogue so that as much wanton action and CGI revelry
as possible can be shoehorned into two hours. Who needs empathy for the protagonists when
you have Kate Beckinsale bedecked in leather—I'm not making this up—straddling Hugh
Jackman's face? Why bother with coherency when you have enormous, digitally created
monstrosities darting across the screen at breakneck speed? And ultimately, what's the use of
creating an homage to monster movies if you're just going to bypass the characteristics that
have made them classics? There's no atmosphere to Van Helsing at all; it's just one
shimmering, plastic action scene after another, with no breathing room to establish any mood.
There are some decent performances—Shuler Hensley gives a wounded, operatic take on
Frankenstein's monster, and Richard Roxburgh lends his Dracula a preening, scene-stealing sense
of self-splendor—but the dialogue is too clunky and uninspired for the actors to have much to
work with. Hugh Jackman is perhaps the biggest disappointment, but through no real fault of his
own. He just seems like a stuffed shirt under Van Helsing's badass, knee-length duster, going
through the action hero motions with appropriate energy, but no heart. Once again, as in the
X-Men films, he plays a man without a past, without memories, but the conceit is so
underused here that it's barely worth mentioning.
Ultimately, Van Helsing suffers from an acute strain of summer blockbuster syndrome.
Divide an inflated budget of 160 million big ones by a 130-minute run time, and you'll see that
each 60-second span of Stephen Sommer's monster mash costs roughly $1,200,000. To put that
in perspective, Universal could have given 80 independent filmmakers $2,000,000 apiece to
make their dream projects, and the world of cinema would have been blessed with several dozen
passionately told stories. Instead, we have the singular Van Helsing, a film that feels the
need to justify its exorbitant price tag by cramming every second with CGI-driven spectacle. Now,
I'm not knocking the blockbuster in general, as there's definitely a place for big, dumb, escapist
fun. But if you're going to do it, do it right. In his bigger-is-better, louder-is-larger approach to the
ultimate monster movie, Stephen Sommers sacrifices plot, character, and pathos at the alter of
shock and awe, making Van Helsing a 130 minute display of sound and fury signifying,
well, nothing.
If there's any good to the bloated excess of Van Helsing, it's that the film delivers a non-
stop sugar rush of eye candy that's expertly reproduced on Blu-ray with an excellent 1080p/AVC
encoded transfer. The film opens in Dr. Frankenstein's castle with a stark and stunning
monochromatic presentation. Black levels are deep and inky—a trait that holds up throughout
most of the film—and whites are ever so slightly overblown, giving the image a bold gradation.
While I found myself wishing the black and white portions were longer—I would have almost
preferred to see the whole film this way—the rest of Van Helsing is soaked in stable and
saturated colors. Witness the icy blues of the Transylvanian village, the warm, yellow tones that
pervade Dracula's masquerade ball, and the velvety crimson of Kate Beckinsale's cloak. An ultra-
thin layer of grain covers the image and convinces that yes, Van Helsing was shot on film
and no, digital noise reduction hasn't been injudiciously applied. The look is clean and sharp, with
detail apparent in fine textures and an impressive sense of depth and overall clarity. Yes, you'll
find some occasionally crushed shadow delineation, but most of these instances seem intentional.
This is a true-to-source transfer, and as such, much of the CGI now looks dated and over-abused,
with obvious, digitally altered vistas and creature work that doesn't hold up so well. Still, it is
what it is, and this transfer will please those few remaining fans of film as well as eye candy
junkies looking for their next visual fix.
While Van Helsing's HD-DVD release contained a mere Dolby Digital-Plus 5.1 mix, the film
gets a more proper treatment on Blu-ray with a powerful DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track. Too
powerful at times, actually. The track is very enveloping, with near constant engagement from the
rear channels. Listen to the buzzing electrical surges of Dr. Frankenstein's life-giving apparatus
crackle all around you. Hear demon wings swoosh by in keenly implemented pans, thunder ripple
outward in rolling waves, and a crowd of surrounding villagers seething with monster-hating
animosity. The soundfield is nearly always alive with directional sound, atmosphere-establishing
ambience, and Alan Silvestri's massive orchestral score. It's very easy, then, for voices to get lost in
the mix—considering the tepid dialogue, some may consider this a plus—and I was constantly
juggling my remote, trying to balance out the volumes of the quieter, conversational scenes and
the loud, chaotic action sequences. The LFE channel gets an adequate workout here, but you'll
often find the booming bass to be overwhelming, burying shouted dialogue and upper-register
noises in a quaking avalanche of low-end. The film does sound great, and if it weren't for the
frequent necessity of volume boosting/decreasing I'd be tempted to give Van Helsing's
audio a 9/10.
Commentary by Director Stephen Sommers and Editor/Producer Bob Ducsay
Sommers takes great joy in pointing out what's real and what's CGI (as if we can't tell) during
this chatty track filled with nonstop back-patting. Producer and editor Bob Ducsay provides some
grounded respite from Sommers' flighty, hyperactive comments, but the track is unjustifiably
congratulatory throughout. At one point Sommers says, "Sometimes I just can't help myself,"
and given the film's overindulgence, I'd say that about sums it up.
Commentary with Richard Roxburgh, Shuler Hensley and Will Kemp
This track, provided by the film's three monsters—Dracula, the Frankenstein Monster, and the
Wolf Man, respectively—is a much better bet. The three actors sustain a loose, laugh-filled tone
throughout, and there's none of the gleeful, "look what I did" self-importance of the previous
commentary.
Van Helsing: The Story, The Life, The Legend (SD, 58:09)
Like an EPK promo piece, making-of documentary and monster movie overview all rolled into one,
The Story, The Life, The Legend covers all the bases over the course of five segments:
Frankenstein's Monster, Dracula, The Werewolves, The Women of Van Helsing, and The Legend of
Van Helsing. Here you'll find lots of on-set footage, behind-the-scenes looks at the creation of the
film's special effects, and interviews with both cast and crew members and literary "authorities"
on Victorian-era monsters. Once again, Stephen Sommers is a bit too overenthusiastic for his
own good.
U-Control
With U-Control turned on, a picture-in-picture icon will appear periodically throughout the film,
and with a click of your remote you can access additional behind-the-scenes footage, interviews,
and short, making-of featurettes. I didn't find much of real interest here, but then again, I'm not
much of a sucker for picture-in-picture special features. There's actually very little for "U" to
control—you're limited to button presses determining whether or not you want to watch a
featurette.
Track the Adventure (SD, 34:36)
This is an exploration of some of the film's sets, from the icy summit of Dracula's Castle and the
Tesla wet dream that is Frankenstein's Lab, to the Burning Windmill, The Village, and The Vatican
Armory.
Bringing the Monsters to Life (SD, 10:02)
Visual Effects Supervisor Ben Snow and other members of the special effects team explain some
of the technologies used to flesh out the world of Van Helsing. We see many different
stages of
the CGI animation process, from the background plates, to the wire-frame models and the
finished, fully textured shots.
You Are in the Movie! (SD, 4:29)
This seems totally unnecessary. Basically, small cameras were placed around the sets and on the
larger film cameras, so we can see from the perspective of the crew members. The title's more
than misleading, as it should probably be called You Are on Set!
The Music of Van Helsing (SD, 9:41)
Composer Alan Silvestri talks about the difficulties of scoring a film before seeing finished footage,
and discusses some of the different cues he created for Van Helsing.
Bloopers (SD, 5:39)
There's some funny stuff here, but it goes on quite long for a blooper reel.
Dracula's Lair is Transformed (SD, 2:41)
Here we see some time-lapse photography of the construction and teardown of some of the film's
sets.
The Masquerade Ball Scene "Unmasked" (SD, 25:29)
Stephen Sommers talks about trying to achieve a Circue du Soleil vibe for Dracula's masquerade
ball. The production eventually recruited around 100 dancers and 17 local circus artists to
participate, and here we see lots of behind-the-scenes footage of casting calls and rehearsals. The
end of the piece focuses on some of the sequence's special effects.
The Art of Van Helsing (SD, 5:10)
This is an auto-playing gallery set to music from the film.
Monster Eggs (SD, 1:53)
I'm not really sure what the point of this is. It seems to be footage that should have been
included in the blooper reel. I guess the play is off of "Easter Eggs," but these candid, on-set
moments are easily accessible via the extras menu.
If you've seen Stephen Sommer's latest debacle, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, you'll
recognize in Van
Helsing a similar theme of childhood fantasy writ large. His movies are sandboxes and his
characters are playthings for him to toss about and manipulate. So, yes, juvenile is a good word for
Van Helsing. For some, the non-stop spectacle will be enough to satisfy, but most people
will be left wanting a more substantial summer action snack. That said, the film does boast a
handsome audio/visual package on Blu-ray, and this may sway A/V addicts towards a purchase. For
all others, though, I'd stick with a rental.
Anchor Bay Home Entertainment has announced that they will bring the comedy 'Stan Helsing' to Blu-ray on October 27th, day-and-date with the DVD release. A spoof on the film 'Van Helsing' and horror films in general, video will be presented in 1.85:1 1080p AVC ...
Universal Studios Home Entertainment has announced that they will bring 'Van Helsing' to Blu-ray on September 15th. Originally released in high definition on the now defunct HD DVD format, this film will come to Blu-ray on a BD-50 featuring 1080p VC-1 video accompanied ...
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